I have a new RES turtle and he was in an outside pond. He seemed happy and only wandered a couple feet at most from the water. Today I came home and he is gone. We have looked in every plant and bush and he is nowhere to be seen. It is warm so do not think he burrowed anywhere. Would he wander far? Any chance he will come back?

He might come back. Are there water areas near your house. If there isn\'t a pond or body of water near by, he couldn\'t have gone too far. I hope you find him. You might consider getting a wire mesh or something to keep your turtles from getting out and other animals from getting in.

There are no areas of water near my house that I know of. I think he was stolen. GRRRR! I have posted signs in my neighborhood so if some kid took him maybe the parents will return him. I am off to see if I can buy any locally I just built a better pond out back where they cant be seen.

Turtles do need to be kept in a secure area. They will wander. They can also dig so you need to install flashing that goes down at least a foot into the ground. Chicken wire fencing is good to keep the turtles in as when they climb on it they start falling back in the pen. But it does not do much for keeping critters out. I like using hog wire with a chicken wire inside. Turtlees have also been known to climb 3 foot chain link, so I don\'t recommend using that.

They can also be taken by cats, dogs, birds (like hawks and owls)or even by critters like racoons.

He\'s home! So funny, I went and bought a male and a female with basking lights etc and when I got home he was in the pond..lol I\'m HAPPY! I am fencing the area in a bit here and making it safer, thank you all.